Mali jihadists announce hostage death

This screengrab from YouTube shows Frenchman Gilberto Leal who was captured by Mali jihadists in 2012.

Bamako - One of Mali's top jihadist groups said on Tuesday a French hostage it had kidnapped in November 2012 was dead.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of Al-Qaeda's regional branch, told AFP Gilberto Rodrigues Leal “is dead, because France is our enemy”, without giving any details on the circumstances of his death.